Chain oiler



ly 9, 193.0. a. BARTLETT ,771s

CHAIN OILER filed May 10, 1926' G O N R I O o O O iy l,

o O I emer Eff,

Patented July 29, 1930 OFINDiANA Application filed May 10,

My invention relates to means for lubricating chain drives in which thespeed of the chain is so high that it is impracticable to permit therunning of the chain in an oil bath.

Various means have heretofore been proposed for accomplishing thisresult, but they have usually possesseddisadvantages in that they eitherrequire precise regulation and constant attention or they create a finemist of oil it which it is difficult to control or to keep within properbounds.

It is the object of my invention to produce a device for lubricating adrive chain, which device will not possess the undesirable teaturesmentioned above but which will supply oil in sufiicient quantities tothe inside or working surface of the chain. A further ob jectof myinvention is to so construct such a device that it will be economical tomanu facture, easy to instalhandfree from a multiplicity of movingparts.

I accomplish the above objects by providing beneath one of the sprocketson which the chain runs an oil bath the level of the oil in which isbelow the sprocket and chain, and I mount on the sprocket one or morefingers adapted to dip into the oil at each revolution of the sprocketand to pick up some of such oil which is later thrown against a dripplate 36 and conducted to the chain or sprocket, preferably to the upperside of the lower stretch of the chain. p v The accompanyingdrawmgillustrates my invention: Fig. lpis a side elevation of a chain driveshowing the oil tank in section;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the sprockets and'chain'diagrammatically and a diilerent means for conducting oil to theinner surface of the chain; Fig. 4 is'a section on the line 4-4 of 3with part of the sprocket broken away to show the construction'o'f thedrip plate; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating'amodification of my invention.

In the drawing a chain 10 connects two SPIOCKGt-S 11 and 12 whicharesecured respec-' tively to shafts 13 and 14. The sprockets 11 and 12rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows so that the lowerstretch of the chain INDIANA, ASSIGNOR To IAMOND 01mm CHAIN OILER' 1925.serial No. 107,964.

10' sievesiii a direction" western procket 11. y I p ,y

NDIANAPQLIS, innI'A m; A conroimrxon 1 mated r pr ka 11 an. ana

. iently enten ding under ithe complete chain drive is a tank15 adaptedto/contain a supply of oil for thechain; Thewil in, this tank 'ismaintained, at a level below the sprocketsand chains so that these partswill not drip into theoil; At someconvenient point. onthe sprocket 11,conveniently at the end of the hub 16 of such sprocket, there ismounteda finger117 of sul ficientlength to extend outward beyondthe'periphery of the sprocketso that it will dip into the oil in thetank loateach revolution of the sprocket. .For areason which will behereinafter set forth it is desirable that the finger 17 bemovablymounted on the sprocket llyinsuch a-manner that itfwill thQSpTQCkl} is rotating but will be free to moveangularly out of its normalradialposition a lthough this is notes'sential to my invention in itsbroader aspects.

The finger, 17, is shown .in the drawingas pivotally' mounted on-the endof the hub 16 by means or a pin Qor screw 18. Withthe finger so mounted,centrifugal force causes it to assume a normal radial position as thethroughlthe oil bath. p f

Arranged "'11 position; to receive the oil thrown ofl' from the finger17 when it emerges fromthe oil bath,"is a suita'blefmeans forconductingsuch oil totheupper'side fof the lower stretchof the chain 10.;

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have illustrated this means as consisting of a plate'20 to the lower edge of which is afiixed an inclined trough 2 l assumea substantially radiallpositionwhen which conducts oil fromtheundersurfaoe of I I eccentric tothesprocket'akis, said finger betheplate 20 to the lower stretch of the chain 10 In Figs. 3 and 4, thetrough 21 is omitted and a curved plate 22 is mounted in position toreceive the oil thrown off from the finger 17'. The oil striking theunder side of the plate 22 adheres thereto,runs' down such plate anddrips from the lower edgeof the plate onto the chain 10. J

r In certain'instances it may be desirable to substitute for the abovedescribed oiling means, which apply oil to the inner, orsprocket-engaging, face of the chain, a construction arranged to apploil to the sprocketteeth rather than to the chain. ,One suchconstruction is shown applied to the chain drive illustrated in Fig. 5,in which it is sprocket revolution, said sprockets and chain twenty-six.V v a GEORGE M. BARTLETT.

impracticable to apply oil to the inner face i of the chain, as in Ineither of the chain stretches is such inner face uppermost; In theconstruction shown in Fig. 5 a finger 17, a drip-plate 20', anda't'rough 21 are used, such parts being similar to the correspondinglynumbered parts in Fig. 1, but a somewhat different arrangement of thesepartsis used. The drip-p late 20 is located above the sprocket 11 inposition to receive oil thrown from the finger 17 but the trough21,instead of conducting oil to the chain, conducts it to the sprocket sothat it falls on the teeth thereof and thus luhricates the wearingsurfaces of the chain and sprocket.

By my'in'vention the chain 10 is provided with an adequate amount of oiland this oil is 3 supplied to the inner or working surface of the chain.The level of oil in the tank 15 need not be closely regulated as itis'only necessary that'the levelofthe oil be'high enough so'that thefinger 17 will pass below it and low enough so that the chainandsp'rocket will be above it. As there are no moving parts conthrownfrom said finger and for conducting such oil to the inner surface ofsaid chain.

2. In combination w th a chain drive comprisi'ng'tworotatable"sprocketsanda chain l fit rcb i e hs "t em. fi r P y inbunteaononeofsa-ldsprockets "on an axis about its axisofpiv'otal mounting, asupply of oil arranged below said-finge sifch {a position that suchfinger will dip into a during a "per-eon of the

